


Luck

by Anonymous



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Gen, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 20:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13532043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Still, anyone who can count knows that three left and two returned. Nobody could be blamed for jumping to the worst conclusion.





	Luck

**Author's Note:**

> I finished Birthright and thought, "What about Chrom!Laslow?"

Their whole return is kind of under the radar, which doesn't make sense since Severa is Severa and Owain is Owain. But they both need time to recuperate, they say; time travel was stressful and world travel is more so. (At this, all the future children nod. Their parents had to be there, but everyone's thankful they weren't.) "We need time," they say, "And we'll entertain visitors when we feel better. We just need to sleep."

Still, anyone who can count knows that three left and two returned. Nobody could be blamed for jumping to the worst conclusion. So when Olivia shows up at the exact second they said they'd be ready to talk, all whispered plans for how to break the news gently be damned: They have to assuage those fears.

"He stayed behind," Owain says, with a bright, sunny smile, scrambling for something, _anything_ to say. “Fear not, for Inigo has conquered monsters and surmounted far worse obstacles!”

"Yeah," Severa chimes in, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. She, at least, finds something. "That lucky idiot fell in love."

The rest of their families trickle in, and now that Severa's gotten the ball rolling, it's easy for Owain to spin the tale.

Inigo fell in love. He may be a prince but he never wanted a crown. The decision between a possible crown or a certain family was hard, but obvious. He has a lovely daughter, and couldn't bear to drag her or her mother away from what they know and love. He serves a king ("And neither of us mentioned being princes," Owain laughs, "The fearless Owain Dark could hardly reveal his true identity!") and that king is fair and just. They secured a peace treaty after a long war, and it will last, because everyone is tired of fighting.

Their families leave with thoughts of Inigo: happy, healthy, _alive_ , blessed with a wife and a daughter.

Owain and Severa stay with the truth.

* * *

They think it’ll become easier, and in a way, it does. The story gets easier every time they tell it, because it isn’t just a story, it’s what could certainly have been, if they were a little more lucky, if the smallest thing had been different.

But watching Olivia dance hurts. Hearing Chrom talk hurts. Looking Lucina in the eye and seeing the Brand, and knowing Inigo had one in the other, hurts. (Having that last memory of Inigo, sans illusion: blue hair, brand, _blood_ -) Everything about his family reminds them of him, twists the dagger in their hearts because even if nobody else knows, _they_ know they’re lying. They’re drowning, being the only two to know the truth, and they don't know what else they could say without shattering what should have been.

But they can't leave, either. If they leave, who will tell Inigo's family about his time in Nohr? Or worse, what if them leaving reeks of guilt? So they stay, and they meet together, and they reminisce: trying to keep each other from drowning.

Lucina shows up unannounced, alone, sweeps into the house with a stiffness and authority they haven't seen in ages.

(The last time she was this serious, they were in the middle of a war, and their parents were dead, and they were looking at a portal that could send them back in time. It wasn’t without risks; they could be sent too far, or not at all. They were lucky then. They were scattered, but they weren't lost, and they found each other in the end, found their parents alive, and won a war they shouldn't have been around to win.

That really was the height of luck, wasn't it?)

"Tell me again about Inigo's family," Lucina says as she seats herself at a familiar table.

So they tell her about Inigo with a daughter with hair just like Olivia's, who inherited her father's penchant for flirting. About friends they left, but _could_ leave, because they didn't leave their friends alone: They left them in Inigo's hands, and he will protect them in Owain and Severa's stead. They laugh, because one day, _one day_ , Inigo will let it slip, and can you imagine the expression on their king's face? Discovering that his incorrigible flirt of a retainer was a prince all along?

"I see," Lucina says, voice wistful. She closes her eyes, trying to imagine it. Then: "What _really_ happened?"

They almost deny it. They almost, almost keep spinning that tale, because in their story everyone gets their happily ever after. In their story there is no-one to mourn, the war was resolved without bloodshed, and in their story, Inigo is alive and happy. In their story, the only regret is that they aren't together.

But they can't. They can't. They've been lying so long, and when faced with that brand in Lucina's eye, they can't. When faced with Lucina, their future queen, the one who lead them to victory, about to cry? They can’t.

Severa looks at Owain. Owain looks at Severa. They know each other well enough that the words don’t need to be spoken.

_You tell her._

_No, you tell her._

Inigo was his cousin, and Inigo was a prince, and Inigo knew his responsibilities. He knew if something happened to Lucina, the burden would fall to him, and Owain knows that, if anything happened to Inigo, the burden would be his in turn.

(He thinks of Nohr's royal family, of how the current king, not the one from their story, never wanted the crown. He thinks of how quickly members of a royal family can fall, and he swallows hard. Chrom may be the king of Ylisstol, and Lucina may be the future queen, but that’s the _ideal_ future, isn’t it? The future can change just like that.)

He exhales a shuddering breath. Severa leans against his shoulder, a comforting weight. There's none of his usual flair when he next speaks.

"We fought a war, Lucy. There was another dragon. And this time, we weren't so lucky."

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: by "another dragon" he means "Corrin".


End file.
